They carry chivalry into their work, and certain conventions, all making for comfort, have been tacitly established between them. For example, toward midday both sides suspend fire in order that they may eat luncheon in peace. They would undoubtedly oblige each other when the evening meal is due but for the unhappy fact that the dinner hours of the contending armies do not tally.
Obviously, says a facetious Frenchman, it is somebody's duty to see that the meal hours of the opposing forces synchronize exactly. The soldiers entertain each other with music, the trenches on either side furnishing items turn and turn about.
[HOW THE RUSSIANS PAY.]
"Oh, yes, the Russians pay for what they take," exclaims the Koenigsberger Zeitung, and adds:
"The inspector of a great farm, who was riding a fine horse, his saddle and bridle ornamented with silver, encountered a troop of Russians.
"'We need that horse; dismount,' ordered the Russian commander. 'But to prove to you that we Russians are not so black as we are painted, I now pay you for the horse.'
"So saying he handed a ruble (51.5 cents) to the inspector, who discovered later that the piece was coined in the eighteenth century and is not current now."